MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2006
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Volume 5, Issue 253
Santa Monica Daily Press A newspaper with issues
NEWS OF THE WEIRD BY
CHUCK
SHEPARD
■ About 1,000 animals were scheduled to be dug up from Pet’s Rest cemetery in Colma, Calif., after owners realized that their lease had run out (June). And the Green River Cemetery in Greenfield, Mass., began hurriedly moving and re-burying bodies, which had begun sliding down a muddy slope into the river (July). And about 100 skeletons were recently unearthed from an old graveyard beneath the St. Joseph’s Church, which the Archdiocese of Boston demolished in 2004 and sold (July) ■ In the city of London, England, began selling used burial sites (for the equivalent of about $5,600), offering to inter bodies on top of previous burials and to re-mark gravestones with new names (July). ■ The robber of a Bank of America branch in Tampa, Fla., in August is actually still at large, but according to witnesses, the bag of cash he took and stuffed down his pants as he fled had exploded, from the chemical dye pack inside, creating a temperature of about 425 degrees. Said a police spokesperson, “There’s no way that he was not injured.” (In his spirited postignition dash, the man jettisoned almost all the money.) ■ In 2001, News of the Weird mentioned William Lyttle, then age 71, of North London, England, who was notorious for obsessively digging tunnels underneath his 20-room home. That year, he had dug past the property line for the first time and created a 15-foot hole in the street. Earlier in 2006, Lyttle was temporarily evicted when his tunneling threatened the integrity of the entire street, and building inspectors feared that his accumulation of junk would cause the house itself to sink into the ground already weakened by 40 years’ worth of burrowing. Engineers are considering cementing in all the tunnels. ■ The following people accidentally shot themselves recently: A 21-year-old man in Hoquiam, Wash., and a 20-year-old man in Chicago (fatally), both while trying “to holster” the weapon in their waistbands. And criminal suspects Fabian Patillo, 21, in a Chicago suburb (June), and a 23-year-old man in East Germantown, Pa. (July), shot themselves in the head when they too-hastily fired their guns behind them trying to shoot pursuers. (Mr. Patillo did not survive.)
QUOTE OF THE DAY “Never tell anyone that you're: writing a book, going on a diet, exercising, taking a course, or quitting smoking. They'll encourage you to death.”
THIS WEEK IS SOBRIETY CHECKPOINT WEEK
Habitat helps house locals Five homes built to shelter families BY KEVIN HERRERA Daily Press Staff Writer
PICO NEIGHBORHOOD — Lowincome residents looking for a permanent place to rest their heads in Santa Monica may be in luck. Habitat For Humanity of Greater Los Angeles, founded in 1990 to build quality housing for those who are struggling to find shelter, is looking for Santa Monicans suffering from financial hardship to become owners of one of five townhomes at 2018 19th St., currently a vacant lot. The project is a joint housing effort with City Hall. “The city of Santa Monica approached us with the idea of creating an affordable housing project in which people could own their own homes,” said Erin Rank, president of Habitat For Humanity of Greater Los Angeles. “They had affordable rental programs in place, but never had they done an affordable home ownership program such as this. “We wanted to partner with them to see if we can make home ownership a reality for someone currently living or working in Santa Monica because we understand that affordability is hard to come by,” Rank added.
Fabian Lewkowicz/Daily Press The vacant lot at 2018 19th St. will soon become a Habitat For Humanity project, housing low-income families.
City Hall helped Habitat purchase the land for $425,000 three years ago and have been partners in the design process, incorporating environmentally-friendly concepts that use green-building technology, Rank said. To qualify, a family of four must make no more than $34,650 a year,
have a steady source of income and be willing to dedicate 500 hours of “sweat equity” into the construction of their home, Rank said. Habitat staff is currently hosting a series of orientation meetings (see box for details) where interested parties can learn more about the project and fill out an
application to see if they qualify. Rank said staff will be looking for those families who are paying a disproportionate amount of their income on rent, as well as those who live in substandard, dangerous living conditions, which may See HABITAT, page 5
LYNN JOHNSTON
INDEX
COMMUNITYPROFILES
Horoscopes Speak up tonight, Sag
2 3
Opinion Impact of Prop. 90
4
State The immigration battles continue
6
BY NORA SORENA CASEY
Know Before You Go Airport Ave improvements
7
National
Special to the Daily Press
Mysterious bird deaths in Alaska
10
People in the News Halliwell claims abuse
11
MOVIETIMES Catch a flick!
11
Comics Yak it up, yakmeister
12
Classifieds Ad space odyssey
PHILIP PARKS
13-19 VONS
RALPHS
Sandy shelter for Hawaii’s homeless
‘Rental Man’ gets his groove on for Westside
Surf Report Water temperature: 69°
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WILSHIRE BLVD. — On a daily basis, thousands of motorists drive on 11th and Wilshire and stare at the man on the corner, holding a sign and dancing like a madman. His name is Philip Parks, someone who enjoys making policemen smile and has a strong tendency to speak in
BY MARK NIESSE Associated Press Writer
rhyme. When Parks puts on his costume and heads out to the street corner he becomes “Rental Man.” Parks wears a red cape, the standard Westside Rentals “Rent Me” shirt, black and red striped shorts, boots and a huge grin. Behind him is his stereo, blasting his favorite tunes. He holds a Westside Rentals
WAIANAE, Hawaii — Bert Bustamante’s family might appear to be camping for the weekend on a pristine Hawaii beach, with kids swimming in the ocean, fresh fish frying on the grill and radio music floating in the air. A closer look reveals the truth life on the beach is about all Bustamante and his neighbors have.
See PARKS, page 8
See HAWAII, page 9
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